CEREC is an acronym for Chair side Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics. Most dental restorative methods require more than one visit to the dentist. This means that on the first visit your tooth is prepared, an impression taken, and a temporary restoration put on your tooth. You make a second appointment for a couple of weeks later, get another injection, have the temporary pried off and have a permanent restoration put on.
With CEREC, the procedure is done in a single appointment, start to finish. With CEREC, we use strong, tooth colored ceramic materials to restore your teeth to their natural strength, beauty, and function.
The cavity preparation is first photographed and stored as a 3D digital model. Specialized software is then used to approximate the restoration shape using biogeneric comparisons to surrounding teeth. The model is refined using 3D CAD software. When the model is complete a milling machine carves the actual restoration out of a ceramic block using diamond-head cutters under computer control. When complete, the restoration is bonded to the tooth using a resin cement.